Australia’s Parliament has returned with Prime Minister Tony Abbott and newly-elected Labor Party leader Bill Shorten locking horns on boats, debt and the economy.
On the issue of marriage equality, the Attorney-General Senator George Brandis has decided to take the ACT to the High Court to challenge their same-sex marriage laws, after the Prime Minister initially gave indications his Attorney-General was softer on marriage equality than his actions let on.
Meanwhile, the Labor Front Bench is filled with many strong and well known public advocates of marriage equality, with over 75 per cent of the Shadow Ministry supporting marriage equality, including the newly minted Opposition leader.
Other recognisable advocates of marriage equality returned to the front bench include Tanya Plibersek (Sydney MP, Deputy Leader of the Opposition and Foreign Affairs Spokesperson, who gave one of the most moving speeches at the Labor Party National Conference in favour of changing the platform to support marriage equality), Senator Penny Wong (Leader of the Opposition in the Senate), Mark Butler (Environment, Climate Change and Water spokesperson) and Anthony Albanese (inner west Sydney MP and Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism spokesperson).
Jason Clare, a touted future leader from western Sydney and Kate Ellis are two marriage equality supporters from the “next generation” of Labor MPs who were recently promoted into the Shadow Cabinet. Senator Claire Moore and Senator Doug Cameron are two other staunchly vocal marriage equality supporters to look out for who were recently promoted by the caucus to the outer Shadow Ministry.
While many of the rising stars of the Labor party who were promoted support marriage equality, some who oppose it were also promoted.
Staunch opponent of marriage equality Jacinta Collins was replaced as Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate by Senator Stephen Conroy, who voted against marriage equality in 2012.
Shayne Neumann from Ipswich is the new promotion to the Shadow Cabinet into Indigenous Affairs and Ageing who relied on 260 letters and emails from constituents to justify his opposition, despite a Newspoll of his electorate showing most of his constituents either supported marriage equality or didn’t care. Michelle Rowland was promoted to the outer Shadow Ministry into Communications and Multicultural Affairs voted against marriage equality last year, also relying on her assessment of the mood of her constituency on the issue rather than mounting a strong argument.
If there’s one person who epitomises and reflects the mood of change in the community, it would be Bernie Ripoll. The Queensland MP was recently promoted to the role of Shadow Minister Assisting the Leader for Small Business and Minister for Financial Services and Superannuation. After voting against marriage equality in 2012 he gave a little-publicised speech in June where he said of the Marriage Equality bill, “I believe the community is changing its view as well, because it is seen as being an issue of equity. If this bill does come to a vote, unlike my previous vote I will now be supporting this bill.”
The Shadow Minister responsible for Marriage Equality
Kevin Rudd was Labor’s most vocal supporter of marriage equality in the lead-up to this year’s election, but now Labor’s go-to guy on the persistent issue is now officially Mark Dreyfus (pictured), who is returning into the Attorney-General Portfolio in Opposition, having been the Attorney-General under both Prime Ministers Gillard and Rudd.
The fact that he challenged a sitting member for preselection in the Victorian Branch indicates he knows something about the people and the structures in the Labor party. His pre-parliamentary career as a Barrister and appointment as a Queens Counsel are proof he has no shortage of experience as an advocate. His sense of justice and what is right is best demonstrated by his successful advocacy on behalf of members of the stolen generation in the Federal Court which was decided in 2000.
“Representatives achieve when those they represent thrive,” Dreyfus said in his maiden speech. “But do representatives in democracies also achieve when sometimes they undertake the difficult task of persuading those they represent that the common good requires the local interest to give way to a larger interest? I think so.”
Although only being elected to Parliament six years ago in the 2007 Ruddslide, Dreyfus has held a number of roles which have given him extensive parliamentary experience. He served for a time as the Chair of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs and had been in Cabinet from just after the 2010 election until Labor’s recent defeat. His additional role as Deputy Manager of Opposition Business means he’ll be involved in the parliamentary tactics of the Opposition in the current parliament.
What has Dreyfus said about LGBTI issues?
Dreyfus has spoken a number of times in parliament about equality. Speaking in 2008 in Parliament on a bill which gave access to the Family Court for de facto families separating, he launched a stinging attack on opponents of same-sex relationships, saying the Labor reform “represents a shift away from the intransigence and the demeaning obstruction of the former government in refusing to accord respect or dignity to same-sex relationships and gay and lesbian families.”
He speaks of equality as an inevitable end point of progress, justice and fairness winning the day. “Along with many other nations, Australia has taken a historic journey to accord full equality and citizenship to all its citizens – to women, to Indigenous people, to racial and cultural minorities, to gays and lesbians, to people with disabilities and to each and every citizen.
“The journey is not yet complete, but I hope that in years to come we will be able to look back – as we now do to the years of the White Australia policy – to the years in which there was discrimination against and gays and lesbians, cultural minorities and people with disabilities and say, ‘We have come a long way, and to a better place.’”
With his legal background in mind, it was surprising to read Dreyfus’ speech supporting Labor’s historic amendment which removed discrimination against same-sex couples in over 85 pieces of legislation. His speech revealed a sensitivity to the day-to-day impact of human rights. He urged parliament: “It is important for us to remember that human rights are not some sort of abstract notion that exists purely in the realm of legal theory or political philosophy. These reforms will make a real difference in the lives of thousands of Australian families and, in particular, in the lives of thousands of children who live in same-sex-couple families.”
He revisited this theme again earlier this year, in a speech on Labor’s reforms to Aged Care – which ensured same-sex attracted seniors were protected from discrimination by religious providers who received public funding – where he bluntly said “the description of this situation as ‘discrimination’ seems almost too clinical. It is, in fact, cruel. It is offensive. It is mean-spirited.”
What does Dreyfus say now about LGBTI issues?
When Same Same asks Mark Dreyfus directly about his views on LGBTI matters, he seems to have lost none of his passion. “I am proud, as Attorney-General, to have passed legislation to provide protection against discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity or intersex status,” he tells us.
“We also ensured that Commonwealth-funded aged care providers cannot discriminate against gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex Australians, and as a government Labor amended 85 Commonwealth laws to eliminate discrimination against same sex couples.”
Former Attorney-General Nicola Roxon also revised rules so that Australians seeking to enter same-sex marriages overseas can apply for Certificates of No Impediment, which allows a couple to have their marriage recognised in that country, he adds.
“In opposition, Labor will continue to work towards reducing discrimination for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex Australians.”
When asked what he personally thought about marriage equality, Dreyfus replies: “I have long believed that our nation should treat all of its citizens as equally as possible, including through marriage laws.
“I am in no way convinced that it will harm our society to allow same sex couples who love each other and are committed to sharing their lives, to marry,” he explains.
“I also cannot see that it harms any presently married couple, or the institution of marriage itself, to allow same sex couples to marry.”
Responding to a question about the way forward for marriage equality, Dreyfus highlights the obvious obstruction. “The key to progressing marriage equality in this parliament is for Mr Abbott to allow his members a conscience vote on this issue,” he makes clear.
What’s his view on the impending High Court stoush over the ACT’s same-sex marriage laws? “Senator Brandis’ High Court challenge is simply diverting attention away from the political debate we should be having in the Federal Parliament about marriage equality,” Dreyfus replies.
It is almost unheard of for the Commonwealth Government to take a Commonwealth Territory to court, he adds. The Abbott Government has created a legal skirmish over the tangential issue of the powers of a self-governing territory.
“Marriage equality is an important social matter that needs to be decided by parliaments, not to be argued in court.”
What do Marriage Equality Campaigners think of Dreyfus?
Anna Brown from the Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby in Mark Dreyfus’ home state of Victoria is impressed with his record on LGBTI rights issues. “Dreyfus was the Attorney-General who after 15 years of talk, actually delivered federal anti-discrimination laws, laws that represent leading international practice in terms of protections for transgender and intersex people,” she says.
“His decision to move ahead with the LGBTI protections when the government shelved the HRAD Bill (Human Rights and Anti-Discrimination bill) demonstrates his commitment to LGBTI human rights issues.”
She also appreciated his attendance at the Lobby’s #LGBTI2013 forum ahead of the federal election, which she says demonstrated his personal knowledge of, commitment to and passion for marriage equality and other LGBTI rights issues.
Justin Koonin from the New South Wales Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby is equally sure that Dreyfus is a strong supporter of LGBTI causes.
Long-time campaigner for marriage equality and the second most senior person in the Labor caucus Tanya Plibersek – whose electorate of Sydney has a high proportion of the LGBTI community – has no hesitation in expressing confidence in her Shadow Cabinet colleague.
She tells Same Same: “Mark is a long standing ally and friend of the LGBTI community, a great legal mind and a strong advocate for marriage equality.”
Finally, Rodney Croome from the Australian Marriage Equality campaign describes Dreyfus as a strong proponent of equality but notes that the job ahead for Dreyfus and other advocates in the Labor party was “not only to keep marriage equality on the ALP’s agenda but to work across the political divide with supporters of equality in other parties.”
He emphasises: “The only way we can achieve marriage equality is with greater cross-party co-operation.”
Author: Michael Nguyen
Publication: samesame
Date: 20 November 2013
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